Why Late Night’s Seth Meyers is the Man of the Late Hour

If late-night TV were like high school, Seth Meyers would totally be voted Most Likely to Succeed. The brainy 42-year-old has spent the last two years injecting sharply observed political and social commentary into the comedy DNA of NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers, earning critical raves and ratings along the way. (No Carpool Karaoke needed here: The talk show is the No. 1 program in its timeslot, in both total viewers and adults 18–49.) “I wanted to combine smart and silly—to create a place for both,” says Meyers, who took over Late Night from Jimmy Fallon in February 2014. “Even at SNL, we tried to be the smart take on dumb. I want to do things that are fully inspired by whimsy and lunacy as opposed to just trenchant social observation.”

Also in this issue:

• Emmy Awards: Senior critic Matt Roush on the breakout shows and stars who deserve a spot on the ballot.

• Greenleaf: OWN launches a sudsy new drama set behind the scenes of an African-American megachurch. The plot is so juicy, Oprah Winfrey joined the cast.

• Game of Thrones: Exclusive behind-the-scenes photos from Season 6 of the HBO mega-hit.

• Brooke Shields: The pop-culture icon opens up about her Flower Shop Mystery movies and the challenges of taking on an executive producer role.

• The Last Ship: Our report from the set as the TNT thriller sets sail on Season 3.

• Adventures in Babysitting: Disney Channel’s 100th original movie updates the 1980s classic.

• Jerry O’Connell: With a new gig on Mistresses, the boyish actor looks back on some of his greatest hits—and a couple of amusing misses.

• Plus: Roadies, American Gothic, Pretty Little Liars, Person of Interest, Queen of the South, General Hospital and the best of movies, streaming, sports and more.

Summer Preview: Ellen Barkin is One Fierce Mother in TNT’s Animal Kingdom

Welcome to the jungle! Meet the Cody family, stars of TNT’s gritty new drama Animal Kingdom. Based on the 2010 Australian film of the same name, the series was developed for TNT by executive producers John Wells (Shameless) and Jonathan Lisco (Southland). The producers’ first goal was to shift the focus of the source material from a caper to an in-depth character study of an extremely unconventional family. “I like a good heist movie as much as the next guy,” Lisco says. “But the true DNA of this show is about a provocative, powerful and perverse matriarch who has this emotionally incestuous hold over her boys and uses her ability to manipulate them to her advantage.”

That would be Janine “Smurf” Cody (Ellen Barkin), the head of the family and mastermind behind its illegal activities (jewelry store holdups are just the tip of the iceberg). Together with adopted son Baz (Scott Speedman), Smurf manipulates her sons Craig (Ben Robson) and Deran (Jake Weary) into doing her bidding while letting them indulge in booze, drugs and women. “I think she’s a good mother—she’s just in a very bad situation,” says Barkin, who studied Jacki Weaver’s Oscar-nominated performance in the original film to prepare for the series. “She is a character who maybe is capable of monstrous things, but I certainly would never call her a monster.”

Also in this issue:

• Summer Preview: All the scoop on new and returning shows, including Mr. Robot, The Bachelorette, Ray Donovan, Aquarius, UnReal, Feed the Beast, Dead of Summer and more.

• Mother May I Sleep With Danger?: Guest columnist James Franco writes about why he made a lesbian vampire movie for Lifetime!

• Fall TV: Senior critic Matt Roush offers his picks for the most promising new shows coming next season.

• Tony Awards: The Late Late Show‘s James Corden talks about hosting Broadway’s biggest night.

• Plus: Rizzoli & Isles, Eva Longoria on Devious Maids, Ride With Norman Reedus, Alison Sweeney and more.

Simon Cowell Returns as America’s Got Talent’s Newest Judge

After a nearly three-year absence from American television, Simon Cowell is making his grand comeback as a judge on NBC’s America’s Got Talent—and he admits he is having more fun than ever. “Sometimes when I watch those American Idol clips, I do actually think I was just miserable!” Cowell says of the iconic show that introduced Americans to honest and blunt (and sometimes rude) judging style. “I felt I was almost becoming a parody of myself, and it was embarrassing. Now I find the bad acts just funny. I’m still the same person, but you’ll see me liking a lot more people.”

Also in this issue:

• Fall Sneak Peek: See what the broadcasts networks have in store for next season. Hint: big stars, time-travelling and a live-action re-imagining of the characters of Archie Comics.

• The Bachelorette: Superfans Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg reveal why they love the emotional train wreck reality franchise.

• Law & Order: SVU: A visit to the set as the venerable drama wraps up its 17th season.

• Roots: The story behind History’s recreation of the legendary miniseries.

• Bloodline: Netflix’s dysfunctional Rayburn family returns for Season 2.

• Maya & Marty: Maya Rudolph and Martin Short talk about their instant chemistry and what to expect from their new NBC variety show.

• So You Think You Can Dance: A behind-the-scenes look at the pint-size twists for Season 13.

• Wayward Pines: Fox’s twisty thriller gets even more twisted in its second season.

• The Dresser: British icons Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins talk about their incredible careers and their epic team-up in the wickedly juicy Starz movie.

• Plus: The Flash, Rosewood, American Ninja Warrior, Mistresses, Days of Our Lives and more.

Farewell Agent DiNozzo: Michael Weatherly Says Goodbye to NCIS

It’s the end of an era on NCIS. After 13 seasons playing boisterous, unpredictable man-child of an agent Tony DiNozzo, Michael Weatherly is signing off the venerable CBS drama. His exit has been a long time in the making. It’s something, says Weatherly, he began thinking about seriously two and a half years ago, in Season 11, after the departure of Cote de Pablo, who played his verbal sparring partner and love interest, Ziva. “Their great dynamic, the badinage and sparring and flirting between those two characters and how they would swing from siblings to near lovers and back to buddies,” he says, “that was gone, and then I got to the point where I felt I’d stayed at the party for too long. I would look around the room and other people were really in sync and having fun. The show was a huge success, but I just suddenly realized that I probably had other things that I should be doing. And then the wanderlust set in. I directed a documentary. I have a production company. And I wanted to spend time with my family.”

Also in this issue:

• Jane the Virgin: Jane and Michael finally head to the alter in the season finale. Will the show need a new title for Season 3?!

• The Voice‘s Adam Levine: The Maroon 5 frontman on why he still loves sitting in those red rock chairs.

• Preacher: All hell is about to break loose in AMC’s dark new supernatural series.

• black-ish: The Good Times roll in the second season finale’s homage to a ’70s sitcom classic.

• All the Way: Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston bring his Tony-winning portrayal of Lyndon Baines Johnson to HBO

• Person of Interest: Our report from the set of the CBS cyber thriller, which finally returns for its final season.

• Bones: A guided tour of the Jeffersonian’s creepy and cool lab.

• Plus: Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, New Girl, Once Upon a Time, Gotham, The 100, Royal Pains, The Bold and the Beautiful and more.